Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Aussie rules

A continuation of the grand Ricky Ponting drama that I posted about yesterday....now we learn that he has indeed been found guilty and fined - 25% of his match fees!. Do note that this is outright dissent we are talking of..and that too from a captain. 25% of match fees for that kind of 'charge' towards the umpires is not good enough even for a normal player, and for captains the ICC is extra strict (need I name the captain who bore the maximum brunt of this law?). Mr Crowe, who had already announced yesterday that Ponting did no wrong, and had to eat crow when still being forced to fine him, had this to say

"He did not ask for the third umpire to be consulted but when he made that move and spoke to the officials I believe his involvement played a part in prompting the referral. That is a breach of the ICC's Test match playing conditions, which states that players may not appeal to the umpire to use the replay system."

Right, so what did he say? I'm sure it was something related to his unhappiness at the decision...that's all that matters, in making it a strong case of dissent.

And wait, there's more

Meanwhile, Crowe also commented on the Australian team's interactions with Dar, noting that there were a few issues the team needed to sort with the umpire. Lee had an animated conversation with Dar after the umpire apparently asked him to move away in his follow through, while Stuart MacGill too expressed his displeasure after a couple of lbw appeals had been turned down in an over.

Which shows that the Aussie team is not learning anything from their past mistakes. And heck..why would they? When the match referree takes their side even before hearing the case (and afterwards too, despite penalising the captain), and is almost apologetic in having to implement an ICC code against them.